University of Virginia Library

Four Cav Wrestlers
Triumphant In Meet

By FLETCHER THOMPSON

Four Cavalier wrestlers took
first place in their weight
classes in the Virginia
Intercollegiate Wrestling
Tournament held Saturday in
University Hall.

Virginia and William and
Mary dominated the rest of the
field, which included teams
from Old Dominion, VPI, VMI,
VCU, and Norfolk State.

Dave Wendell at 118, Denis
Bittenbender at 150. Tom
Derrickson at 158, and Kevin
Michaels at 190 were Virginia's
champions, each turning in fine
performances throughout the
tournament.

Wendell, a first-yearman
from Pittsburgh, easily
outclassed his preliminary
opposition to gain a berth in
the finals. There, he managed a
2-0 decision over William and
Mary's Dave Rosenkrans. He
secured his victory by riding
out his opponent in the third
period after taking the lead on
an escape early in the second
period.

One of the outstanding
performances of the night was
Bittenbender's victory over
W&M's Tom Monday, in what
was perhaps the most
hotly-contested match of the
tournament. At the end of
regulation time the score was
knotted at 1-1 as neither man
could manage more than an
escape. Bittenbender took the
lead in the second period of
over time with a reversal, but a
penalty point and a Monday
reversal forced him to tie the
match with an escape late in
the third period. He was
awarded the title on a
unanimous decision by the
referees.

Derrickson's match was also
a cliffhanger, as he defeated
Bill Hogan of the Indians, 5-3.
It was a seesaw battle
throughout and the issue was
not resolved until Derrickson
broke a 3-3 tie with a
takedown in the last thirty
seconds.

In contrast with Virginia's
other winners Kevin Michaels
had a relatively easy time in his
bout. He dominated all of his
opponents and completed the
day with a 10-3 win over VMI's
Jim Bailey.

Other Virginia finalists were
Captain John Pitas at 126.
Shelley Zablow at 142 and
Larry Sullivan at 167.

Pitas held Mark Belknap of
W&M to a scoreless tie for the
first two periods but Belknap,
who was later named the
outstanding wrestler for the
tourney pulled away in the
final two minutes to score 12-0
decision.

Zablow handily defeated his
opponents in the preliminary
rounds to reach the finals
against Indian John Cahill. The
grapplers appeared to be
headed for overtime until
Cahill gained a takedown in the
final minute and held on for a
3-1 decision.

Sullivan got to the final
round by coming from behind
to edge his VMI opponent, 4-3.
He faced Phil Smith, also of
VMI, and was unable to crack
the tough Keydet as he lost,
5-0.

The Cavaliers also placed two
men at third and another two
at fourth. Ed Fink at 118 and
Bill Voliva at 177 handled
opponents from W&M and
ODU in the consolation finals
for third, while Don Drew at
150 and Bob Fowler at
heavyweight managed fourths.

Other champions were Mark
Pond of ODU at 134, Bob
Scott of W&M at 177, and
Greg Freeny of W&M at
heavyweight.

Although they were not in
mid-season form, the Cavaliers
have gotten off to
commendable start. Their next
match is Friday, December 10
against VCU in Richmond
followed Saturday by a home
match against North Carolina.

Kevin Michaels Defended State Title In Saturday Meet

190-Pounder Was One Of Four Cavaliers To Win In Tourney